Dowhaniuk plays OT hero as Griffins win wild one over Spartans to move past Golden Bears into second
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
|
|
2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
Team Stats
| Game Statistics | MacEwan University | Trinity Western |
|---|---|---|
| PowerPlays | 2 for 5 | 2 for 5 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 5 (10) | 5 (10) |
| Shots on Goal | 37 | 23 |
| Face Offs Won | 0 | 0 |
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
LANGLEY, B.C. – As the old adage goes, there's no picture on the scorecard … even if Friday's dramatic come-from-behind 6-5 overtime win over the Trinity Western Spartans may have given the Griffins' coaching staff some serious frayed nerves.
"I don't handle stress that well at the best of times," laughed MacEwan men's hockey head coach Zack Dailey.
Trailing 5-4 late in a roller-coaster contest, Dailey called a timeout with 2:01 remaining and pulled goaltender Eric Ward for an extra attacker.
Captain Sam Simard came through in the clutch, tying the contest on a one-timer with 1:26 left, setting the stage for rookie defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk to end the game 50 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime on a scintillating backhander.
OT MAGIC!
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) February 7, 2026
Rookie D-man Keaton Dowhaniuk ends this one with a superb backhander!
The @MacEwanGriffins rally back to beat the @TWUSpartans 6-5 in overtime and move a point ahead of @GBHKY for second place in the @CanadaWest West Division.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/yZBuzDyXv9
"It wasn't pretty," admitted Dailey. "At times, I thought we were quite good. At times I thought panic set in. I don't know what it was.
"Again, though, all of this is really good experience as we're battling down the stretch here. Obviously, you'd like things to be perfect, but that's not really how it works. Experiencing tight games and having situations where we're down late and have to find a way is all good stuff.
"We're definitely not trying to leave it to that every game, but the old saying is good teams find a way to win and we found a way to win tonight."
It's a huge victory for the Griffins as they improve to 10-10-5 and move a point ahead of cross-town rival Alberta (10-11-4) – who lost 7-3 at UBC on Friday – for second in the Canada West's West Division standings with three regular season games remaining.
The contest was a wild one with the Spartans taking 1-0 and 2-1 leads in the first period on two goals from Aiden Knutson, only to have the Griffins respond with the equalizer twice.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) February 7, 2026
Tie game, courtesy of Liam Hughes, who rips home a one-timer off Kadyn Chabot's pass! @MacEwanGriffins #GriffNation pic.twitter.com/TGuaCqqyE2
Liam Hughes tied it 1-1 when he one-timed Kadyn Chabot's pass past Spartans' netminder Cole Savage.
Then Brett Bamber's point blast tied it 2-2 with just 15 seconds left in the first period.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) February 7, 2026
Brett Bamber's point blast finds twine!
And after 20 minutes, the @MacEwanGriffins are tied 2-2 with @TWUSpartans.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/YAmrGbNKP2
MacEwan jumped on its horse early in the second as Kadyn Chabot ripped home his 17th of the season, tying him for the Canada West goal scoring lead just 1:19 into the middle frame. Chabot finished with three points.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) February 7, 2026
Kadyn Chabot wires home his 17th goal of the season to give the @MacEwanGriffins their first lead of the night early in the second. He's back tied for the @CanadaWest goals lead on his third point of the game.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/L40Ezu94KN
"I thought offensively, those guys were quite good," said Dailey of Chabot and his linemates. "I challenged them defensively; I thought they were giving up a little bit too much. But when it mattered, those guys came through.
"Chabs has been an all-around leader for our group – definitely offensively scoring goals, but in terms of overall effort, he was on the PK tonight, he was out right when we needed a goal. He's a very, very important guy for our group and has been very impressive this year."
Dwayne Jean Jr. fanned on a powerplay slapshot before collecting the puck, spinning and firing it top shelf for a 4-2 MacEwan lead 6:55 into the frame. Jean Jr. tied the program record for the most shots in a Canada West game by a rookie with eight.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) February 7, 2026
Wicked wrister from Dwayne Jean Jr. goes top shelf to give the @MacEwanGriffins a 4-2 lead!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/W8c2aIzIPY
But TWU scored three unanswered goals from there (Mikhailo Simchuk, Christian Lowe and Jonathan Krahn) to put MacEwan in a rally situation.
That's when the captain came through from the bumper, blasting home Logan Dowhaniuk's pass to send the contest to OT.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) February 7, 2026
With the extra attacker on, it's captain Sam Simard ripping home the tying goal!
He finishes off a tic-tac-toe passing play to send this one into overtime, tied 5-5.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/JQAzJIiBX8
"They did a great job," said Dailey. "Something we kind of changed is we just simplified our 6-on-5. It's a bunch of guys who played together a bunch. It's a powerplay unit, plus one guy. A lot of the looks are what they get on the powerplay. They executed quite well. They made a great play. It was definitely a great goal for us."
The magic continued into overtime as Keaton Dowhaniuk collected a rebound off Ethan Sundar's shot and went in untouched off the point, sending a hard backhander glove side to end the proceedings.
"I've actually really liked his game after Christmas," said Dailey. "He's a young D-man and it's hard for them in this league. I've asked him to focus on a couple things and I think he's done a great job of simplifying his game. But what I liked even more was down the stretch he made some great blocks. There was one on the PK, one on the rush. So, he's doing everything – creating offensively, he's sacrificing his body.
"I'm very, very impressed with his overall game, but obviously the overtime winner was nice, as well."
The Griffins will certainly have some things to clean up defensively and in the discipline department as they head into Saturday's rematch with the Spartans (8:15 p.m. MT, Canada West TV).
"One of our focuses down the stretch here is we've been giving up way too many goals," said Dailey. "And so we're going to try and focus on our defence tomorrow."
